Philippa Langley

‘Never give up’ … Sally Hawkins as Philippa Langley in The Lost King with Harry Lloyd as Richard III. Photograph: Graeme Hunter ‘Never give up’ … Sally Hawkins as Philippa Langley in The Lost King with Harry Lloyd as Richard III. Photograph: Graeme Hunter I can actually remember where I was when it was announced that Richard III’s remains had been found under a car park in Leicester , 10 years ago. It made headlines globally, most likely because of the juxtaposition: “It’s a car park and it’s that king,” says Philippa Langley. “So it’s a really great story.” Her agreement surprises me. Langley spent eight years looking for the remains of the king, after trying to restore his reputation for the previous decade. I don’t think it’s unfair to say that she thinks he is objectively the most interesting thing ever – and, from her perspective, this story doesn’t need any frilling up with the bathos of a private car park. But maybe she was just being polite. Now 60, Langley dresses like a laidback person (double denim) and talks like a true believer, as passionate as she’s ever been about Richard III and scornful of the bad reputation unjustly heaped upon him by that rascal Shakespeare . We meet in London to discuss the film that Steve Coogan (reteaming with Philomena director Stephen Frears and co-writer Jeff Pope) has made about the discovery. Digressions from the film back to Richard’s true character are frequent. “When you look at the contemporary source material from his own lifetime,” she says, “it’s a very different man that you see: loyal, brave, pious.” Langley is the founder of the Richard III Society ’s Scottish branch, and was made its honorary president in 2015. The year after next, the organisation will celebrate its centenary. It’s stuffed with amateur Ricardians, but also medieval historians, specialists in ancient writing, experts across the board. They don’t all agree, but they keep it together in the service of their idol. Believer … writer and royal sleuth Philippa Langley. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian “There are some people,” Langley says with astonishment, “who actually love the Shakespeare play.” She corrects herself a bit. “Well, obviously, it’s Shakespeare. It’s one of the most dramatic works ever. But then, there’s an awful lot of people who feel there has been an injustice done.” Nevertheless, as a story, The Lost King is niche. It lacks the element of suspense since, whichever way you cut it, we already know that they find Richard III , and that he stays dead. But The Lost King isn’t really about Richard III at all. I think it’s about Langley and the intensity of her fascination. She is brought vividly – and quite stressfully – to life by Sally Hawkins , while Coogan plays her ex-husband John. To stick my neck out further, I think the film’s deeper philosophical inquiry is about the wisdom we gain collectively from people who are obsessional and tenacious. Let’s go back to the beginning. In 1992, Langley reads a biography of Richard III by Paul Murray Kendall and discovers the disconnect between the actual man and what we generally think of him – warlike, manipulative, murderous, not to mention “Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time / Into this breathing world, scarce half made up”. She thinks of writing a screenplay to rehabilitate him. Langley was motivated by the injustice of it all, yet when I try to tease out the reason this injustice might have spoken to her, there doesn’t seem to be one. She was moderately interested in history as a kid, but didn’t do it as a degree. She worked in advertising and marketing. She didn’t think of herself as having been sinned against, particularly. She’s just from the north, she says with a shrug. “I was taught from a very early age that you don’t give in and you don’t give up.” Langley was, at that time, having a phenomenally hard time. She’d been diagnosed with ME, was unable to work, had two small boys, her marriage had broken down, and she wa